This invention relates to surgical stapling, and more particularly to apparatus for removing metal surgical staples from body tissue (e.g., skin tissue) to which the staples have been applied.
There is a need for a surgical staple remover which is both inexpensive and reliable. It is desirable to provide surgical staple removers which are relatively inexpensive so that the device can be discarded after use on a single patient, thereby avoiding all difficulty and expense associated with cleaning and sterilizing the apparatus for reuse. This is especially important in the case of skin staple removers because skin staples are frequently removed in a doctor's office or outpatient facility where instrument cleaning and sterilizing equipment is not available and where instrument cleaning and sterilizing would interfere with efficient operation of the facility.
Despite the requirement for low cost, it is important that the staple remover work reliably because it performs a surgical procedure, albeit a relatively minor one.
It is therefore an object of this invention to improve and simplify surgical staple removers.
It is another object of this invention to provide a reliable and efficient surgical staple remover having a minimal number of easily manufactured and assembled parts.